FREEZE FRAMES

A weekly update of film releases

By
David Sterritt /
July 5, 1991

DARK OBSESSION -Murky, too. Gabriel Byrne and Amanda Donohoe star in Nick Broomfield's melodrama about a British businessman with two problems: He's convinced that his wife is having an illicit affair, and he's embroiled in a conspiracy of silence over an accidental killing. The action is uninvolving and generally bland, notwithstanding a few self-consciously explicit love scenes. (Rated NC-17) EVERYBODY'S FINE - Marcello Mastroianni plays an aging man who travels to different parts of Italy for visits with members of his scattered family. There are a few magical moments in the story, but much of the going is as predictable as it is sentimental. Directed by Italian filmmaker Giuseppi Tornatore, whose earlier "Cinema Paradiso" was more inventive if not more tough-minded. (Not rated)

THE NAKED GUN 2 1/2: THE SMELL OF FEAR - The clownish cops of "Police Squad" return in yet another romp, thwarting an evil scheme to substitute a disguised bad guy for a government ecologist. The best laughs come near the beginning of the story, and even these often seem like retreads from earlier comedies by director David Zucker and his filmmaking team. What's needed is less mugging and more of the inventive sight gags that Zucker used to dream up so effortlessly. (Rated PG-13)